Why do your fingers change when you swim or have a bath, will it prevent fingerprint recognition?

Question

Thanks!:)

Answer 1

The reason is that the thick outer layer of the skin (made of keratin protein fibers) of fingers soak up the water and expand slightly. This means that this outer layer is a bit bigger than the underlying tissue and bone it wraps. Thus, it wrinkles to shrink its own surface area down to conform to the smaller surface area of the tissue beneath. (remember that the outer skin is dry dead cells that would soak up water, while the inner flesh is fluid filled and won't soak up water.)

To see this principle in action, wrap dry cardboard tightly around some glass or plastic cylinder (a glass container will work). Make sure it's wrapped tightly. Now, soak the carboard in water. You will notice that the wet cardboard is now loose and wrinkled over the glass container. It has soaked up the water, expanded slightly, and wrikled to match it's surface area to that of the glass container.

Fingerprints depend on the ridges on the tips of your fingers. These are not severely distorted when wet, but one would need to completely flatten the finger to remove any wrinkles and get a clear print of the ridges. Thus, fingerprint recognition is possible if the fingerprints are carefully taken.

Hope that helps.

Answer 2

its because of chlorine, it soften your body especially your hand.

Answer 3

Your fingers change cause the skin is cold and it's folds are  pushing together to get warm. It will not prevent fingerprint recognition unless you swim or take a bath in acid.

Answer 4

i know thats weird, i think its cause they either soak up water or release it, i dont know haha!! what a weird question. oh but it doesnt mess up the fingerprint cause it always goes 'puffy again'.lol